Reigning Champion Hurdler Golden Ace will now skip an intended Wincanton date to head straight back to Cheltenham. In further preparations for the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins wants to take on Constitution Hill at Southwell.
Find out more about both stories, and more, in our racing news round-up for Thursday.
Golden Ace missing but Constitution Hill to face Mullins pre-Cheltenham
Jeremy Scott is to divert Champion Hurdler straight to Cheltenham, skipping the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton this Saturday. The mare won the Cheltenham Tuesday feature last season in dramatic circumstances. However, she has proved that no fluke, winning another Grade 1 in the Fighting Fifth this season. Wincanton’s Grade 2 contest looked to be her likely stepping stone back to the Festival this season, but Scott has said “I don’t want to pull the guts out of her in heavy, potentially gluey ground.” (Racing Post)
In a completely different form of Cheltenham preparation, Constitution Hill may end up facing some serious opposition. The nine-year-old, who won the Champion Hurdle in 2023, is being targeted at a £40,000 novice event on Southwell’s all-weather. However, Willie Mullins intends to have a runner in the race due to its generous conditions. The champions trainer said: “A 40-grand maiden on a dirt track? Of course I’ll have something for it!” (Mirror)
Connell & O’Brien remain confident in Cheltenham hopes
Barry Connell is not one to hide his confidence, as is always the case in Marine Nationale. Despite a heavy defeat for last year’s Champion Chaser at Leopardstown, Connell believes his horse will reverse that form. The 19-length deficit does trouble him, with Connell pondering “how are we going to reverse that?”, but the trainer went on to say “they were extreme conditions and we know our horse loves Cheltenham.” (Sky Sports)
Meanwhile Joseph O’Brien has the utmost faith in Talk The Talk for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. His “really exciting” novice hurdler bounced back from a final flight fall at Leopardstown over Christmas to win a Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival. That took his record to three wins from four starts but O’Brien says “he’s done nothing wrong this year, he’s unlucky not to be four from four and he goes to Cheltenham as a real obvious contender.” (PA via Racing TV)
Clonmel’s Thursday meeting abandoned
The only meeting scheduled in Ireland on Thursday has been abandoned at Clonmel. The track was reported to be waterlogged during Wednesday’s inspection, with the possibility of up to 4mm more rain through Thursday. The abandoned card had been due to feature the Grade 3 Mercedes-Benz Novice Hurdle. (Irish Times)
Grand National-winning jockey Harty dies at 88
Lastly, Eddie Harty, a former Grand National winner, has died at the age of 88. Harty can lay claim to being the only man to compete at the Olympics and win Aintree’s great steeplechase. He won the 1969 edition of the Grand National aboard Highland Wedding, while his son, also called Eddie, trains in partnership with grandson Patrick to this day. (The Sun)